The five-time world champion and nine-time national champion figure skater passed a fitness test in front of a panel of experts from the U.S. Figure Skating Association on Friday, allowing her to cement her spot on the U.S. Olympic Team and continue her lifetime pursuit at the Turin Games in Italy next month.

"It feels awesome," she said.

Kwan had asked for and been granted a place on the team despite missing the national championships earlier this month with a groin injury - but she had to prove she would be healthy in time to compete in Italy. She did so by performing both her short program and free skate in a span of less than 12 minutes during a private workout at the East West Ice Palace in Artesia, Calif.

"It's really, truly the opinion of this monitoring team that Michelle could win the Olympics and is definitely qualified to get a medal," said Bob Horen, the chairman of the international committee within U.S. Figure Skating who led four others on the expert panel. "We really believe that, and she skated that way. . . . She's skating very well."

Kwan performed four triple jumps in her long program, Horen said, although no triple-triple combinations, which Kwan acknowledged she probably will need to contend for gold in Turin. She did perform several triple-double combinations, however, including one that immediately followed her only fall, on a double axel during the short program.

"She did everything that we asked her to do," Horen said.

The 25-year-old Kwan said her groin did not bother her during the workout, and "it shouldn't hold me back from now on."

"I have a lot to work on and I will try my very best to skate from the heart," she added.

Kwan has won silver and bronze medals at the Olympics, but still is chasing the elusive gold. She plans to work six triple jumps into her long program for the Turin Games, and figures to rank alongside countrywoman Sasha Cohen, Russia's Irina Slutskaya and Japan's Shizuka Arakawa as favorites for the gold.

The decision means that 16-year-old Emily Hughes, who finished third at the national championships, will remain only an alternate on the Olympic team. The younger sister of Sarah Hughes, who won gold at the 2002 Salt Lake Games, would have reached her first Olympics had Kwan not been granted her spot on the team.